CD Projekt Red offered a deep dive into Phantom Liberty, the spy-thriller themed expansion to Cyberpunk 2077, in a stream to its Twitch channel.
Returning players are able to start Phantom Liberty as long as they have resolved the Brigitte and Voodoo Boys storyline, and they will receive a phone call that invites V to the new location of Dogtown. However, new players have an option to skip straight to Phantom Liberty from character creation if that’s what they wish.
The new Relic skill tree arises from an interaction with a new netrunner named Songbird, and it enhances cyberware. For example, these skills exploit vulnerabilities in enemy cyberware for “skill shot spots” that then create area of effect explosions. Alternatively, the mantis arms can be upgraded to charge up and allow for a 30 metre leap as a new tactical option in combat.
Relic skills are levelled through interacting with Militech data terminals scattered in Dogtown. Phantom Liberty contains “dozens of new story quests and gigs” for players to complete and become stronger, and CD Projekt Red specifically spent time reworking the body tree to allow for a “Terminator“-esque build.
These changes plus perks from the tech tree let players surpass the standard level of cyberware through an Edgerunner perk and become strong enough to throw enemies at each other to hit them like “bowling pins”.
However, role-playing as a cyberpsycho and wreaking this level of havoc will trigger police interventions. The developer had said that there are significant improvements to the police systems which had been criticised as basic in the original Cyberpunk 2077.
As a player generates heat through committing crimes, Night City police will pursue them in vehicles with the intensity of the chase increasing with the player’s reaction. Police will ram the car, build roadblocks and deploy armoured Max Tac units.
The changes to the police are not relegated to the Phantom Liberty expansion and will be available to all players in the upcoming update 2.0 for Cyberpunk 2077. Both the expansion and the update will roll out for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on September 26.